Beauty's slimy underbelly
The Summer of our Discontent Michael Ritchie's Smile and Robert Altman's Nashville were twin satires of post-Watergate disillusionment released in the summer of 1975.With 1976 looming as both a Bicentennial and election year, Smile and Nashville appeared to be two extremely well-timed social comedies with their finger on the pulse of the tumultuous decade (Nixon's 1974 resignation, inflation. Searh and Download Over 80 Million DVD Quality Movies!!! DivX Subtitles, Partition M English Subtitles for DivX Movies. Select one of the letters to view a proper section of titles list.
MarquisDD17 March 2000
So rarely do we find such a dark and acidic commentary filmed in such an exquisitely light fashion. 'American Beauty' is an example of success in this genre, but the relatively obscure 'Smile' reigns supreme.
It lays bare all the emptiness and hypocrisy of suburban America relentlessly and without mercy, and yet somehow manages to keep itself funny and bright and rarely deals with its subject matter with an overt contempt or scorn.
'Agent 99' Barbara Feldon is superb as the veneer ice-queen teen beauty pageant coordinator -- all diplomacy and smiles glossing over a charred and empty soul. (She greets the dog with smiles and kisses then ignores the husband.) Likewise, Bruce Dern portrays his vapid community leader role with perfect candor, and it becomes delicious to see him question what he perceived as the status quo.
A truly classic and trail-blazing film, well directed and edited and brilliantly written and acted. Such a shame it remains so obscure and unknown. This is one of my top five favourite films and becomes richer and more intricate with each viewing.
And I will never hear Nat King Cole sing the title song again and not picture the strained and pained perma-grins as the opening shot pans across the hopeful beauty contestants.
It lays bare all the emptiness and hypocrisy of suburban America relentlessly and without mercy, and yet somehow manages to keep itself funny and bright and rarely deals with its subject matter with an overt contempt or scorn.
'Agent 99' Barbara Feldon is superb as the veneer ice-queen teen beauty pageant coordinator -- all diplomacy and smiles glossing over a charred and empty soul. (She greets the dog with smiles and kisses then ignores the husband.) Likewise, Bruce Dern portrays his vapid community leader role with perfect candor, and it becomes delicious to see him question what he perceived as the status quo.
A truly classic and trail-blazing film, well directed and edited and brilliantly written and acted. Such a shame it remains so obscure and unknown. This is one of my top five favourite films and becomes richer and more intricate with each viewing.
And I will never hear Nat King Cole sing the title song again and not picture the strained and pained perma-grins as the opening shot pans across the hopeful beauty contestants.
41 out of 41 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
When satire was goodPermalink
tsar6511 April 2006
Director Michael Ritchie made two films in the seventies that nailed the suburban existence, not just of Southern California, but of America right on the head.
While Bad News Bears was a deserved box office hit, the under-recognized Smile is the better movie...and that's saying a lot as I adore them both. Having seen the recently released Thank You For Smoking and its lame attempt at broad satire it made me reflect about what made Smile so great. Ritchie genuinely cares for his characters, making them sympathetic instead of one dimensional cardboard cut-outs which would have been very easy to do. The many characters Ritchie focuses on are human, with all the foibles that entails, so while it may be easy to laugh at the beauty pageant contestants and their problems, you do it with a touch of guilt because they are so earnest in their attempt to win respect from not only the judges, but the choreographer (Michael Kidd), the den mother (Barbara Feldon), and ultimately themselves.
To mock them is to mock yourself for rooting for your favorite girl at the film's conclusion which fittingly, as it turns out, doesn't matter anyway.
Now that's good satire.
A truly under appreciated gem.
While Bad News Bears was a deserved box office hit, the under-recognized Smile is the better movie...and that's saying a lot as I adore them both. Having seen the recently released Thank You For Smoking and its lame attempt at broad satire it made me reflect about what made Smile so great. Ritchie genuinely cares for his characters, making them sympathetic instead of one dimensional cardboard cut-outs which would have been very easy to do. The many characters Ritchie focuses on are human, with all the foibles that entails, so while it may be easy to laugh at the beauty pageant contestants and their problems, you do it with a touch of guilt because they are so earnest in their attempt to win respect from not only the judges, but the choreographer (Michael Kidd), the den mother (Barbara Feldon), and ultimately themselves.
To mock them is to mock yourself for rooting for your favorite girl at the film's conclusion which fittingly, as it turns out, doesn't matter anyway.
Now that's good satire.
A truly under appreciated gem.
31 out of 31 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Say cheesePermalink
chris.murray34 June 2001
As with all the great episodic ensemble films (If..., Fame, Nashville, M*A*S*H)it's the little touches that makes this film quite so deliriously wonderful e.g.: The wide-eyed girl's nervousness of the orchestra; the cop's recapture of Little Bob's two accomplices; Maria's expression as the winners of the pageant are being announced; '...and that girl had a wooden foot'; and so on.
All of the cast are uniformly excellent, not one of them, major or minor, misses a beat.
This is one film that invites repeated viewings, until it almost feels like an old friend. I think that we should start a campaign to get this film the recognition it deserves.
All of the cast are uniformly excellent, not one of them, major or minor, misses a beat.
This is one film that invites repeated viewings, until it almost feels like an old friend. I think that we should start a campaign to get this film the recognition it deserves.
27 out of 27 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Quintessential 1970's filmPermalink
billy-712 August 1998
This wonderful comedy-drama has much the same tone as 'Nashville.' It's a satirical view of a place and time centering around a specific event, in this case a teenage beauty pageant. It has a couple of things 'Nashville' doesn't have, however--a heart, and a great deal of affection for its flawed characters. Bruce Dern has never been sufficiently appreciated--often typed as a psycho--but he has never been better than he is here as a used-car salesman with a lot of inner torment. And Michael Kidd, the great choreographer, shows what an adept actor he can be in a supporting performance which in a perfect world would have won an Oscar, and in this imperfect one was not even nominated. Michael Ritchie, one of the most erratic of directors, here hits his career peak.
16 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Funny and disturbing satirePermalink
There's something very disturbing and creepy about the 'wholesome' teen beauty pageant. It might be the 'stage mothers' who are not just living through their daughters, but seem to actually be re-living the vainglorious days of their own pathetic lives before they became frumpy, boring housewives. It might be the way every male from the horny pre-teens to dirty old rotters leers at the teenage girls as they go through the 'talent', 'swimsuit', and 'vim and vigor' portions of these ridiculous contests. Whatever it is, the subject is ripe for satire. This forgotten 70's movie is less famous than the more recent 'Drop Dead Gorgeous', but it's really a lot more on-target as far as satire goes. Whereas the later film has its moments (Ellen Barkin's trailer trash mom with a beer can burnt onto her hand or the stupid contestant who has had a sexual encounter with Adam West), the satire in this movie is a lot more subtle and effective. There's the idiotic emcee who says things like: 'Isn't she beautiful? Aren't they all beautiful? Isn't everybody beautiful?'. There's the scary, Stepford-like pageant director (Barbara Feldon)who for the sake of 'the girls' doesn't press charges after her drunken husband (quite understandably)tries to shoot her. Then there's the male community leaders led by 'Big Bob' (Bruce Dern) who at one point dress in bedsheets and have an initiation ceremony in the park which ends up looking like an especially homoerotic Ku Klux Klan rally.
The adult actors are mostly just hilarious caricatures, but the contestants are more realistic and likable. The most famous faces are Melanie Griffith and Colleen Camp, but the main stars are Joan Prather (from TV's 'Eight is Enough') and a young Annette O'Toole. The ending is kind of anti-climactic, but something about it kind of stays with you. It's not a great movie perhaps, but it was one made at a rare time when America could honestly look at itself in the mirror--and what is there is both funny and disturbing.
The adult actors are mostly just hilarious caricatures, but the contestants are more realistic and likable. The most famous faces are Melanie Griffith and Colleen Camp, but the main stars are Joan Prather (from TV's 'Eight is Enough') and a young Annette O'Toole. The ending is kind of anti-climactic, but something about it kind of stays with you. It's not a great movie perhaps, but it was one made at a rare time when America could honestly look at itself in the mirror--and what is there is both funny and disturbing.
33 out of 36 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
One of the funniest films I've ever seenPermalink
Suburbanite9 February 2005
I recently saw this as part of the London National Film Theatre's retrospective of 1970s American film. I had no knowledge of it beforehand, but what a gem this is.
It's not just a comment on beauty pageants, it also takes an incisive look at 70s American home life in everyday small towns, while examining the need to belong and fit in.
Overall though, it's very very funny, displaying a humour that is never over-the-top or played for easy laughs. This is helped by good, fluid, natural-sounding dialogue from writer Jerry Belson, and solid acting from everyone, especially Bruce Dern, Michael Kidd and Annette O'Toole.
Other things I liked included the way that the girls are often shown as the dignified ones while the (mostly male) pageant organisers and other satellite characters are shown in the opposite light, an interesting take for a film you might think is going to send up the idea of the beauty pageant mercilessly and depict the girls as nothing more than bimbos. Also, the way it neatly side-steps our possible expectation of seeing leering, lascivious men drooling over fresh young girls. There is an element of this, but it's kept to a subtle level in order to make way for better observations and more effective humour.
I highly recommend this, and if you do see it, look out for the scene where Big Bob takes his son Little Bob - for reasons I shan't bother explaining - to see a psychiatrist. I laughed more than I have at anything else for quite some time.
It's not just a comment on beauty pageants, it also takes an incisive look at 70s American home life in everyday small towns, while examining the need to belong and fit in.
Overall though, it's very very funny, displaying a humour that is never over-the-top or played for easy laughs. This is helped by good, fluid, natural-sounding dialogue from writer Jerry Belson, and solid acting from everyone, especially Bruce Dern, Michael Kidd and Annette O'Toole.
Other things I liked included the way that the girls are often shown as the dignified ones while the (mostly male) pageant organisers and other satellite characters are shown in the opposite light, an interesting take for a film you might think is going to send up the idea of the beauty pageant mercilessly and depict the girls as nothing more than bimbos. Also, the way it neatly side-steps our possible expectation of seeing leering, lascivious men drooling over fresh young girls. There is an element of this, but it's kept to a subtle level in order to make way for better observations and more effective humour.
I highly recommend this, and if you do see it, look out for the scene where Big Bob takes his son Little Bob - for reasons I shan't bother explaining - to see a psychiatrist. I laughed more than I have at anything else for quite some time.
13 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Fantastic film!Permalink
qbine322 October 1999
One of the most under-appreciated gems of the 70's, this dark comedy about a small town beauty pageant brilliantly depicts the emptiness and shallowness of living the 'American dream' as it satires life in small town America, giving an especially humorous wink to civic organizations that culminates in grown men in white sheets forcing members of their 'clan' who have recently turned 35 to kiss a dead chicken's ass filled with some kind of weird white cream that has haunted me for years! With rich writing, brilliant direction by Michael Ritchie, and dead-on performances by Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon,Michael Kidd, Joan Prather, Annette O'Toole, Maria O'Brien, Nicholas Pryor, and Eric Shea. this film is a true unsung classic!
13 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Biting satire at its finestPermalink
capitan_movie4 June 2000
Santa Rosa, California, is the true star of this great satire. Barbara Feldon is magnificent as the hard-hearted pageant dominatrix. And Bruce Dern, is the true suburban everyman. Nicholas Pryor, Michael Kidd, and Geoffrey Lewis are all brilliant in their cynical supporting roles. But, the contestants steal the show -- especially Melanie Griffith, Joan Prather, Colleen Camp, Maria O'Brien, and Annette Toole.
20 out of 22 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Why we were using so many drugs back thenPermalink
patherto1 November 2004
Warning: Spoilers'Smile' is a slice of slightly rancid American pie that takes place (although you'd never know it) right in the middle of Watergate and temporary President Ford. Ritchie has succeeded in capturing a time that isn't that long ago. The place happens to be California, but anywhere in America would have done just fine. Bruce Dern stars, for once not in one of his psychopathic roles, as 'Big Bob', the owner/operator of a mobile home lot. The lovely, ex-Agent 99, Barbara Felden plays the organizer of a young teen's pageant with a pearly smile and complete scorn for her alcoholic husband. The vignettes and stories interweave in a perfect blend of sarcasm, sentiment, and silliness. Sample (minor spoiler)-when the pageant organizer sees a girl being helped out of the auditorium with a sprained foot, he rushes over and asks, 'Can I get you anything? a doctor? a Pepsi?' A great script I was surprised Buck Henry *didn't* write. And watch for what happens to that Polaroid (you'll know what I mean). A terrific movie with laughs and giggles galore.
9 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
SmilePermalink
merlin-jones5 December 2011
SMILE hits home as it was filmed in the summer of 1974 when I graduated from high school, in Sonoma County, where Santa Rosa is. It is an accurate representation of Santa Rosa, 1974. I know many of the people in it, and my friends white 62 Chevy Impala is used. I can point out to many faces in the audience during the pageant, including an old high school history teacher. For me now it is a ghost town movie, as the current Santa Rosa has grown 3 times the size. The town you see in the film has been developed out of existence, and now seems like a dream. SMILE is based on the Junior Miss Pageant, which use to be held at The Veteran's Memorial, where the filmed pageant takes place. Mark Ritchie coached the paid actors well, as I could believe they were like local folks acting out as Santa Rosans. As a Cultural Anthropology study Smile is a gem. It is a time capsule to 1970's Santa Rosa. Another film to see is Hitchcock's Shadow Of A Doubt. It too takes place in Santa Rosa around 1942, and has many points of location gone by the time Smile was filmed. Thorton Wilder wrote the Hitchcock screenplay for Santa Rosa, as he saw it as the best example of a American small town. The same can be said about Smile, but now Santa Rosa is an edge city.
8 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
You need to see this filmPermalink
hamletta5 August 2007
My fellow commenters have done a lovely job of summing up the wonderfulness of this movie.
But I don't think enough has been said about Maria O'Brien.
She is the daughter of the late, great Edmond O'Brien, and she is off-the-hook funny in this movie.
I knew her 'whackamolehthip' was laying it on thick, and I'm just a gringa with a good accent. And then she drops the accent when talking to the stage manager: 'I need red and green gels for my entrance....'
'Applause, applause, applause....'
Maria O'Brien is brilliant.
She should be as famous as her father never was.
But I don't think enough has been said about Maria O'Brien.
She is the daughter of the late, great Edmond O'Brien, and she is off-the-hook funny in this movie.
I knew her 'whackamolehthip' was laying it on thick, and I'm just a gringa with a good accent. And then she drops the accent when talking to the stage manager: 'I need red and green gels for my entrance....'
'Applause, applause, applause....'
Maria O'Brien is brilliant.
She should be as famous as her father never was.
8 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
'70s satirePermalink
blanche-26 November 2009
All the beauty contestants have to 'Smile' in this 1975 film written by Jerry Belson and directed by Michael Ritchie. It's a take-off on pageants and American values in the '70s. It stars Barbara Feldon, Bruce Dern, Michael Kidd, and Nicholas Pryor, while featuring some familiar young faces as contestants: Melanie Griffith, Colleen Camp, and Annette O'Toole.
Feldon is the ever-chipper but icy 'Young American Miss' who has no use for her drunken husband (Pryor) and devotes herself to the pageant; she's terrific, as is Bruce Dern as a used car salesman, the main judge of the pageant who has an enterprising son with a Polaroid camera. Best of all is Michael Kidd as the choreographer. Kidd started out as a ballet dancer, moved to Broadway, and finally Hollywood where he danced, acted, and choreographed, later adding directing to his list of talents. Here, he gives a wonderful performance as a choreographer whose cynicism and toughness hides a heart of gold.
There are too many vignettes among the contestants to describe - the talent competition that consists of packing a suitcase, the flaming baton; the rehearsals with the orchestra are hilarious, as is the contestant looking for her butter churn.
The film hits just the right note between satire/comedy and drama. Beauty contestants haven't changed much; they all want to help people, and being brought up without a father is a distinct advantage. Boys are still horny. And never has any of this been presented in a more of a light, amusing way than in 'Smile.'
Feldon is the ever-chipper but icy 'Young American Miss' who has no use for her drunken husband (Pryor) and devotes herself to the pageant; she's terrific, as is Bruce Dern as a used car salesman, the main judge of the pageant who has an enterprising son with a Polaroid camera. Best of all is Michael Kidd as the choreographer. Kidd started out as a ballet dancer, moved to Broadway, and finally Hollywood where he danced, acted, and choreographed, later adding directing to his list of talents. Here, he gives a wonderful performance as a choreographer whose cynicism and toughness hides a heart of gold.
There are too many vignettes among the contestants to describe - the talent competition that consists of packing a suitcase, the flaming baton; the rehearsals with the orchestra are hilarious, as is the contestant looking for her butter churn.
The film hits just the right note between satire/comedy and drama. Beauty contestants haven't changed much; they all want to help people, and being brought up without a father is a distinct advantage. Boys are still horny. And never has any of this been presented in a more of a light, amusing way than in 'Smile.'
6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
great comedic commentary on American culturePermalink
rupie5 July 2009
When this film first came out thirty-four years ago (which seems impossible) the college crowd I hung with absolutely loved it. I was delighted to see it come up on one of the cable movie channels recently and after watching it again after lo these many years I am delighted to be able to report that its wittily insightful commentary has lost none of its edge or relevance. The flick really does deserve a place in whatever Hall of Fame is dedicated to commentary on American culture. It really is a comedy, but it has just enough raw edges to give it some genuine bite. The pacing is handled very well, and we are able to develop a genuine interest in many of the characters. The movie never descends to grossness or imbecility, although - given the subject matter, a regional beauty competition - the opportunities are plentiful. Bruce Dern's character is wonderfully drawn; it would be so easy to portray him as a dolt, but he is shown as a sincerely well-meant guy, which is what makes his subtly characterized thoughtfulness at the end of the movie so effective. Interesting to see Melanie Griffith - at the age of 18! - in one of her earliest credited performances. My favorite character is Michael Kidd, the choreographer; cynical, bitter, yet a true professional, he seems the only one in the flick that really cares about the girls, yet he has no illusions about himself. There are just so many wonderful moments in this film - thanks to a brilliant script and great direction - that it deserves a place as a minor classic of Americana.
5 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Everything that's wrong with America, in under two hoursPermalink
marcslope4 August 2008
Extremely smart little satire that uses a state beauty pageant as a microcosm for a stinging look at American values, with hypocrisy rampant and greed triumphant. Writer Jerry Belson delineates his characters very carefully, so that we know whom to side with and whom to despise, and the nearly no-name cast portrays them brilliantly. Talented Joan Prather is the contestant we most identify with, decent, but slowly being corrupted as the urge to win overtakes her, and Michael Kidd is the semi-big-time choreographer who at first seems callous and unlikable but turns out to be merely seeing, and telling, it like it is. There's some too-easy comedy as we view the contestants' terrible talent competition entries, but at the end we've seen a remarkably thorough put-down of American values circa 1975. (Maybe it didn't get more attention because its utter honesty and accuracy about the American way of winning, a pet theme of the director's, made people uncomfortable.) The final scene, in the police car, is just a perfect wrap-up.
5 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Enjoyable ComedyPermalink
consortpinguin1 July 2001
'Smile' is a perfect satire of our human penchant for joining clubs and organizations. Set against the 'Miss Teen California' Pageant, this film parodies the pettiness, power plays, and self-importance of the contest's organizers.
At the time, I had just joined the Jaycees and I roared with laughter at all the 'Jaycee types' I saw. Bruce Dern, the enthusiastic but dense Jaycee President 'Big Bob Friedlander' sets the tone of the festivities. Barbara Feldon as chairwoman Brenda DiCarlo runs a taut ship, but is none too bright. In fact her husband, Andy, is literally driven to drink and runs away from the 'exhausted rooster' ceremony rather than kiss a dead chicken. Big Bob's son, 'Little Bob' and his friends get caught running a business of taking pictures of the girls dressing rooms through the windows.
In one of the less ethical aspects of the pageant, the Jaycees wait until their choreographer has taught the girls a dance number using a runway out into the audience. Suddenly the Jaycees take away the runway to accommodate 'the golden circle' of $150 seats. As the choreographer tries the number without the runway, one of the girls falls. Putting the honest choreographer in a moral bind of money vs. safety, the Jaycees only put the runway back in by forcing him to deduct the cost of the 'golden circle' tickets from his fee.
This film is a lot of laughs, starting at the very beginning, when one of the local pageant winners presents as her 'talent' a demonstration of how to pack your suitcase. During the credits, as she runs to the plane to the pageant, her suitcase flies open, spilling everything all overt he place. The contestants steal the show. Some of the 'talent' is singing, and, well, none of them have ever won a Grammy. Shortly after Maria ingratiates her way into Barbara Feldon's favor, her 'talent' of flinging lighted batons ends in disaster as a few of the other contestants chuckle conspiratorially.
I didn't quit the Jaycees, but I certainly had many laughs at the meetings! In short, a great comedy! I recommend it highly and give it an '8.'
At the time, I had just joined the Jaycees and I roared with laughter at all the 'Jaycee types' I saw. Bruce Dern, the enthusiastic but dense Jaycee President 'Big Bob Friedlander' sets the tone of the festivities. Barbara Feldon as chairwoman Brenda DiCarlo runs a taut ship, but is none too bright. In fact her husband, Andy, is literally driven to drink and runs away from the 'exhausted rooster' ceremony rather than kiss a dead chicken. Big Bob's son, 'Little Bob' and his friends get caught running a business of taking pictures of the girls dressing rooms through the windows.
In one of the less ethical aspects of the pageant, the Jaycees wait until their choreographer has taught the girls a dance number using a runway out into the audience. Suddenly the Jaycees take away the runway to accommodate 'the golden circle' of $150 seats. As the choreographer tries the number without the runway, one of the girls falls. Putting the honest choreographer in a moral bind of money vs. safety, the Jaycees only put the runway back in by forcing him to deduct the cost of the 'golden circle' tickets from his fee.
This film is a lot of laughs, starting at the very beginning, when one of the local pageant winners presents as her 'talent' a demonstration of how to pack your suitcase. During the credits, as she runs to the plane to the pageant, her suitcase flies open, spilling everything all overt he place. The contestants steal the show. Some of the 'talent' is singing, and, well, none of them have ever won a Grammy. Shortly after Maria ingratiates her way into Barbara Feldon's favor, her 'talent' of flinging lighted batons ends in disaster as a few of the other contestants chuckle conspiratorially.
I didn't quit the Jaycees, but I certainly had many laughs at the meetings! In short, a great comedy! I recommend it highly and give it an '8.'
8 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
A fiercely funny and insightful 70's seriocomic sleeper gemPermalink
Woodyanders3 August 2006
Warning: SpoilersOne of the great things about 70's cinema was its bold willingness to ferociously criticize and deromanticize certain absurd, yet enduring myths existent in our culture. 'Smile' rates highly right alongside 'Payday' and 'California Dreaming' as one of the best, most brutally frank and on the money exposes of the pitiful seamy reality that can be unearthed behind the flimsy, far-fetched facade of a certain fantasy that's commonly perceived as a hallmark of American culture. The fantasy in question is that cheerfully ludicrous yearly event known as the American Beauty Pageant. Said pageant, the 'Young American Miss' contest, proves to be the sole source of friction, vitality and excitement in the otherwise dreary and sleepy California suburb of Santa Rosa while also serving as a crassly pandering meat market and unfortunate reinforcer of strictly dividing gender role-dictated differences between men and women.
Bruce Dern as the pathetic, obsessive, insignificant car salesman who funds the event, Nicholas Pryor as Dern's alcoholic, discontent friend who's fed up with the hollowness of his life, Barbara Feldon as Pryor's bitchy, negligent wife who's more concerned with organizing the pageant than she is about her husband's well being, Geoffrey Lewis as the pageant's smug, slimy sponsor, and especially the fabulous Michael Kidd as the acerbic, down on his luck Broadway dance instructor who takes the thankless job of choreographing the whole silly affair because he desperately needs the money all give expert, somewhat excruciatingly accurate performances. Colleen Camp, Joan Prather, Melanie Griffith and Annette O'Toole likewise excel as several of the pageant's conniving, fiercely competitive contestants. Michael Ritchie's able, insightful, wickedly spot-on direction, working from Jerry Belson's acrid, incisive, savagely barbed script, offers a caustic, scathingly candid and deliciously vicious ridicule of America's idiotic obsession with shallow appearances over genuine substance, our general squeamishness about sexuality (Dern's son takes pictures of the contestants undressing which he later plans to sell to the townspeople), the inability of both sexes to openly communicate with and fully trust each other, the unspoken, but deeply ingrained 'do whatever you got to do in order to succeed' Machiavellian ethic that continues to thrive to this very day, and the inanity and superficiality inherent in Middle Class American existence. A biting, rather painfully correct and most sadly under-appreciated 70's seriocomic sleeper gem.
Bruce Dern as the pathetic, obsessive, insignificant car salesman who funds the event, Nicholas Pryor as Dern's alcoholic, discontent friend who's fed up with the hollowness of his life, Barbara Feldon as Pryor's bitchy, negligent wife who's more concerned with organizing the pageant than she is about her husband's well being, Geoffrey Lewis as the pageant's smug, slimy sponsor, and especially the fabulous Michael Kidd as the acerbic, down on his luck Broadway dance instructor who takes the thankless job of choreographing the whole silly affair because he desperately needs the money all give expert, somewhat excruciatingly accurate performances. Colleen Camp, Joan Prather, Melanie Griffith and Annette O'Toole likewise excel as several of the pageant's conniving, fiercely competitive contestants. Michael Ritchie's able, insightful, wickedly spot-on direction, working from Jerry Belson's acrid, incisive, savagely barbed script, offers a caustic, scathingly candid and deliciously vicious ridicule of America's idiotic obsession with shallow appearances over genuine substance, our general squeamishness about sexuality (Dern's son takes pictures of the contestants undressing which he later plans to sell to the townspeople), the inability of both sexes to openly communicate with and fully trust each other, the unspoken, but deeply ingrained 'do whatever you got to do in order to succeed' Machiavellian ethic that continues to thrive to this very day, and the inanity and superficiality inherent in Middle Class American existence. A biting, rather painfully correct and most sadly under-appreciated 70's seriocomic sleeper gem.
12 out of 15 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Deserves to be RediscoveredPermalink
A wickedly humorous send-up of small town boosterism, in which the junior chamber of commerce talks into mechanical dogs for food, turns on artificial birds for the sounds of nature, and substitutes a relentless smile for genuine feeling. Where also: just thinking you're having fun is more important than the real thing, and upbeat cliché becomes a way of life. Suddenly, into this hothouse arrives a tacky version of that crown jewel of artificiality, the beauty pageant, an event sure to drive everything into warp speed, which it does, but with surprisingly low-key results. The film avoids outright cynicism by humanizing the teen-age contestants, who are, after all, also products of small town America. Nevertheless, the script makes the disconnect clear: ritualized behavior has benumbed genuine emotion. The boosters have lost their inner selves, as will the girls if they continue on the contestant path. Amidst a uniformly fine cast stands Nicholas Pryor, whose portrayal of a desperate drunk looks so authentic, it shakes up the entire movie. A holdout from the deadening groupthink, he simply can't cope with the surroundings. Yet it is his emotional depth, from hangdog expression to slumping carriage, by which the rest of the community is measured. There's an undercurrent of the rebellious 60's running through this film, and I suspect it sank quickly because popular tastes were turning away from ironical characters named 'Freelander'. Nonetheless, a revival of this neglected gem is long overdue, not only for its often surprisingly subtle humor, but for the continuing relevancy of the message. However, don't look for it at your nearest chamber of commerce meeting.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
A comment on the pop culture of the 1970'sPermalink
'Smile' released in 1975, is director Michael Ritchie's commentary on the absurdity of beauty pageants. The movie takes place in Santa Rosa, as it is time for the 'Junior Miss' California beauty pageant. Bruce Dern is spot-on as an RV salesman by day, and one of the judges of the contest by night. Interesting, he takes his part as a judge very seriously. Barabara Feldon plays a former Junior Miss, and she is at times hilarious as she is so intense and regimented about guiding the young contestants through the grueling competition. However, she has problems at home, including an alcoholic husband (Michael Kidd) who also seems to be on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Dern has a horny teen-age son (Eric Shea) who gets caught taking pictures through the windows of the girls changing their clothing, and then is sent to a psychiatrist as punishment! There is a bizarre initiation ceremony that Dern and Kidd attend, with the men dressed up in KKK attire. It has to be seen to be believed! Everything about this film reeks of the 1970's, from the famous 'smile' pictures that were everywhere, to one of the contestants doing an imitation of the famous 'Ernestine' the telephone operator, made famous by Lily Tomlin. For those of us who came of age in this decade (as I did) it was all so familiar and hilarious. The film is obviously a satire, poking fun at 1970's middle America. It was showing us who we were, warts and all. Look for a young Annette O'Toole and Melanie Griffith as two of the contestants, and all of the young ladies playing the beauty pageant contestants are quite good. The casting of this film is excellent. So check this out -- particularly if you remember this decade with the fondness, or maybe some groans too.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
WickedPermalink
JasparLamarCrabb17 April 2006
Warning: SpoilersSMILE is a wicked satire. Using a teenage beauty pageant as a backdrop to poke fun at America's obsessions with the banal, director Michael Ritchie and writer Jerry Belson have come up with a classic. None of the girls are particularly attractive but that doesn't stop the Rotary club judges from leering at them while asking questions laced with double meanings. The girls aren't all that talented either...one of them shows the judges how to pack a suitcase! A very funny Bruce Dern stars as Big Bob Freelander, an unusually enthusiastic car salesman. He's VERY into the pageant, as is his peeping-tom son! Barbara Feldon is suitably uptight as the tough-as-nails pageant coordinator and Nicholas Pryor plays her suicidal husband. Feldon and Pryor have one of the film's best scenes as she mockingly tries to talk him out of killing himself. Michael Kidd is hysterical as a nasty choreographer and the contestants are played by a slew of almost starlets including Annette O'Toole, Melanie Griffith and Joan Prather.
5 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
This is one of the great undiscovered comedies of all time.Permalink
alexcams18 December 2006
Twenty-five years after this film about the Young America Miss contest was filmed in Santa Rosa, California, the fates sent me to that lovely town on business. During lunch in a local restaurant, I did an impression of one of the film's lines: 'What does Santa Rosa think about that?' and half a dozen heads turned to stare at me in shock and anger. If a single line from a movie can still upset the local power structure of a self-satisfied town a quarter-century later, it must be doing something right. In fact, writer Jerry Belson, director Michael Ritchie and a great cast of veteran or young actors did about everything right. Funny, insightful and true. What more can a smart viewer want from a movie?
8 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
'These Girls Are Not Ginger Rogers; They Are More LIke Roy Rogers'Permalink
TedMichaelMor11 June 2010
Warning: SpoilersMichael Ritchie 'Smile' personifies masterwork. With a sardonic script by Michael Belson, Bruce Dern in top form as the protagonist sarcastically named Big Bob Freelander, and Barbara Felton, perfectly cast as director of an utterly pointless and empty contest, make this bitter exposition of American life. There is not a false note in this depiction of American insipid, lifeless beauty/talent contests for young women. The entire cast seem perfect.
This is American life at its most repugnant. The detailed icons of ugliness in American life include the minutiae of Andy and Brenda DiCarlo's hideous house. Even better are the audience reaction shots.
Santa Rosa, the Northern California location, reframes the site of Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt'. 'Cujo', Ritchie's own 'The Candidate', and many other films depicting classic or typical American life. No one, not even Hitchcock, made better use of this setting. Of many satiric films from 'Nashville' to 'MASH', 'Smile' best shows vapid life and society. It is a treasure.
Werner Herzog's 'Stroszek', Wim Wenders' 'Paris, Texas', Antonioni's 'Zabriskie Point', and Michael Ritchie's 'Smile' represent a helpful cross-section of films that depict American life with heartiness, sensitivity, and realism. The best of the lot is Mr. Ritchie's movie.
This is American life at its most repugnant. The detailed icons of ugliness in American life include the minutiae of Andy and Brenda DiCarlo's hideous house. Even better are the audience reaction shots.
Santa Rosa, the Northern California location, reframes the site of Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt'. 'Cujo', Ritchie's own 'The Candidate', and many other films depicting classic or typical American life. No one, not even Hitchcock, made better use of this setting. Of many satiric films from 'Nashville' to 'MASH', 'Smile' best shows vapid life and society. It is a treasure.
Werner Herzog's 'Stroszek', Wim Wenders' 'Paris, Texas', Antonioni's 'Zabriskie Point', and Michael Ritchie's 'Smile' represent a helpful cross-section of films that depict American life with heartiness, sensitivity, and realism. The best of the lot is Mr. Ritchie's movie.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Will put a Smile on your face.Permalink
brefane6 October 2007
Near perfect, sharply observed satire on beauty pageants will put a smile on your face and keep it there. Smile is one of the best American comedies of its era, and along with 1972's The Candidate, it may be Michael Ritchie's best film. The acting, writing, editing, and casting are superb, and Smile is consistently entertaining and funny. The dialog and the characters are believable, and the entire cast is flawless. Bruce Dern has never been more sympathetic or likable, and Barbara Feldon has never been seen to better advantage. Annette O'Toole, Maria O'Brien, Joan Prather, and Melanie Griffith standout among the contestants, and Eric Shea and Michael Kidd head a pitch perfect supporting cast. Smile is satire that is neither mean nor condescending and the pageant sequence in Little Miss Sunshine could have been inspired by Smile. Smile compares favorably with some of Alexander Payne's (Citizen Ruth, Election) and Jonathan Demme's(Citizens Band, Melvin and Howard) comedies. Don't miss an opportunity to Smile.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
SmilePermalink
cnamed26 August 2005
long with his other 70s masterpieces, especially Prime Cut (72) and the recently Richard Linklatterized Bad News Bears (76), Michael Ritchie's Smile delivers a sweet/caustic backhand to American patriarchy in all its denim-clad grotesquery. The Man, here, is all embodiments of the Capitalist win-at-all-costs ethic. He comes in the form of pyretic little league coaches leveling universal ennui upon the children, good IL' boys who tidy up business affairs by grinding up the competition in the abattoir, their women kept it the stables, or, in the case of Smile, the Kindermensch of Santa Rosa's local business elite whose wealth and importance to the community are paid tribute with a gleefully calamitous Young American Miss competition. The tone and structure of Smile are reminiscent of Milos Forman's Polish films, especially Fireman's Ball. It shares that film's depiction of a public event as national microcosm, and its brilliant harmonic ability to sustain social critique with a full-out, warts- and-all sympathy for its all-too-human characters. The film's gonzo feminism will doubtlessly stick grinding in the throats of the Steinem set, and it certainly doesn't idealize, presenting its bevy of beauties as an estrogenic infestation, immediately plugging the theater's pipes with Kotex. Still, it is the strange phallic world of spectacle that encases these women that remains ultimately suspect. Witness the drunken, Masonic gathering where the men of the town don robes, overturn picnic tables and pucker up before the great unwashed posterior of a skinned chicken carcass. A must see American meltdown!
5 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Enjoyable ensemble comedy with a few nits worth pickingPermalink
JohnSeal14 June 2004
As much as I love Smile--and I DO love it--there's a faint odor of misogyny in its neighbourhood. Things I overlooked when I last saw the film over a decade ago now seem blatantly exploitative and, well, a little off putting. From the upskirt shot of Melanie Griffith in the early going to the ogling teenage boy who snaps Polaroids of naked lasses in their changing room to the final freeze frame shot of a topless woman's photo, one gets the distinct impression that director Ritchie is not that far from being an upscale Russ Meyers or David Friedman. And whilst there's nothing wrong with that in general, Smile's message--that the superficial world of beauty contests masks a seamier underbelly--is seriously undercut. Having said that, the film is still most enjoyable and filled with wonderful performances (especially those of Bruce Dern and Annette O'Toole), sharp writing (the sanitary napkin speech is hilarious), and the heartbreaking tones of Nat 'King' Cole over the opening credits.
5 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Drop Dead Gorgeous of the 70'sPermalink
caspian19784 October 2004
A great film for those who have ever been, or have though of being involved with a pageant. The up's and down's of the pageant take center stage as this comedy deals with the roles that everyone has. The judges, contestants, family members, local residents, and even the horny teenagers in the area are all represented. Bruce Dern stars as the main judge of the pageant. Although it mostly his story the movie tells, his friends and the girls he judges have stories that are told. The very young and very beautiful Melanie Griffith co-stars as the eye candy of the pageant. She is the 'poster' of the film if not the main attraction. Having a small role, she ends up playing a bigger role than her characters allows her to have. Overall, the movie becomes a black comedy as the pageant progresses. In the end, some learn a valuable lesson while others just try to look pretty.
5 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Permalink
An error has occured. Please try again.